Saya Gray (born 1995) is a Canadian musician. She has four albums or EPs, starting with her debut in 2022.

Early life

Gray was born in 1995 and raised in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, Canada, growing up in

the Beaches A beach is a geological formation consisting of loose rock particles along the shoreline of a body of water. Beach, Beaches or beaching may also refer to: Geography Canada * Beaches (federal electoral district), a federal electoral district in ...

neighbourhood of Toronto. Her mother is the founder of the Discovery Through the Arts music school in Toronto. She is of

Japanese-Canadian are Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Canadians are mostly concentrated in Western Canada, especially in the province of British Columbia, which hosts the largest Japanese community in the country with the majority of them living ...

descent. Her mother's family moved from

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

in Japan to Canada when her mother was ten years old. Her father is a

Scottish-Canadian Scottish Canadians () are people of Scottish descent or heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and amongst the first Europeans to settle in the country, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian cultur ...

jazz trumpet player who studied at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

. Her brother, Lucian Gray, who plays the guitar, appears on her album ''19 Masters''. She began playing the piano at a young age, eventually deciding around the age of ten to play bass.

Musical career

Gray began playing music in a house band for a Jamaican Pentecostal church. At the age of eighteen, Gray was a music teacher and a member of the Quincy Bullen Band. After

dropping out Dropping out refers to leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, inability, apathy, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves. Canada In Canada, most in ...

of high school in order to take night classes instead, she moved to London in the United Kingdom at the age of nineteen. She worked as a touring bassist for over ten years prior to releasing music. She previously played as a bassist in Canadian singer and songwriter

Daniel Caesar Ashton Simmonds (born April 5, 1995), known professionally as Daniel Caesar, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After independently building a following through the release of two EPs, ''Praise Break'' (2014) and ''Pilgrim's Paradise'' (2015) ...

's touring band. She has also been a musical director for American singer

Willow Smith Willow Smith (born October 31, 2000), also known mononymously as Willow, is an American singer, actress and dancer. The daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, she has received various accolades, including a Young Artist Award, an NAAC ...

and a bassist for English singer and songwriter

Liam Payne Liam James Payne (29 August 1993 – 16 October 2024) was an English singer and songwriter. He was a member of the pop band One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, alongside Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Loui ...

. In 2019, Gray began releasing original music. Her debut album, ''19 Masters'', was released on 2 June 2022. In 2023 and 2024, she released the dual extended plays ''QWERTY'' and ''QWERTY II''. Her second album, ''Saya'', was released on 21 February 2025. The album was longlisted for the

2025 Polaris Music Prize The 2025 edition of the Canada, Canadian Polaris Music Prize will be presented on September 16, 2025 at Massey Hall.Kerry Doole"Polaris Music Prize Announces 40-Album 2025 Long List, Announces SOCAN Polaris Song Prize" ''Billboard (magazine), Bil ...

.Allie Gregory
"Polaris Music Prize Unveils 2025 Long List, Announces Song Prize"
''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'', June 10, 2025.

Personal life

Gray has lived in

and the countries of Japan and the United Kingdom. She was living in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

as of March 2024.

Discography

Albums

* ''19 Masters'' (2022) * ''Saya'' (2025)

EPs

* ''QWERTY'' (2023) * ''QWERTY II'' (2024)

References

{{reflist 1995 births Living people 21st-century Canadian women musicians 21st-century Canadian bass guitarists Alternative pop musicians Canadian musicians of Japanese descent Canadian women bass guitarists Musicians from Toronto Dirty Hit artists